As an early founder I would really value advice from makers who have built momentum from the ground up.

I am specifically attempting to learn in three areas:

1. Growth and distribution: What early growth channels, habits, or experiments have actually helped you get your product in front of the right people? What would you focus on before spending money on ads?

I ve seen a lot of makers (myself included) start building with one idea, then pivot completely after talking to users.

I launched Waivify a simple digital waiver tool because I noticed yoga instructors and personal trainers still using paper or clunky PDFs for liability waivers. It started as a weekend build. Now it s used by solo business owners to simplify their client onboarding.

But along the way, I realized I wasn t just solving waivers I was helping service pros feel more legit and reduce admin anxiety.

So I m curious:

I put an upcoming page up four weeks ahead of a launch, exactly like every guide says, so it could gather followers instead of me scrambling on launch morning. Six days later it has one follower and I'm fairly sure I know who that is.

So one of two things is true. Either the page is invisible unless you already know the product exists, which means it isn't doing distribution work at all, it's a landing pad for traffic you have to send yourself. Or people don't follow an upcoming page without a reason, and the reason has to come from somewhere else entirely.

What I want from anyone who has shipped more than once: did your upcoming page ever produce followers on its own, or did every single one come from a thread, a newsletter, or a specific person? If it's the second, putting the page up early is still fine, it's just not the step people think it is. Real numbers welcome, zero included.

Innovation does not mean that you just label something as "AI" or "tech". It usually requires activities that train not only the users of the product, but also directly involve them in the process of general awareness.

How does your company strengthen the innovation of your country? (and now I don't just mean that you create a product)

I have launched on PH twice but before launching, I always prefer to share the product with at least 20 potential users over DM. The goal is to get early feedback and testimonials. This helps me understand what s working (or not) in the copy, design, offer, value proposition, etc.
Based on those early insights, I iterate quickly and it could be small tweaks or full rewrites, depending on what people are saying.

To make it easy for them to say yes and share feedback, I create a no-brainer offer (like 70 90% discount) and DM potential users on X asking for feedback.
What s your pre launch strategy for collecting feedback and improving your product before launching on PH?
P.S. Here s a sample DM I use to get early feedback for Boringlaunch:
Hey [User Name]

We ve just launched (product name) for [Industry/Category/Domain/Target Audience]

It might be a great fit for your [product name].

Hey everyone! I m Head of Ops at Product Hunt, and I frequently get asked about the best Payroll, PEO, EOR, and HRIS solutions for distributed teams.

I m active in multiple ops communities (LinkedIn, Slack, Circle), and discussions on this topic come up repeatedly but

Working on different products and brands gave me some insights into what worked best.

For example, when we promoted minimalist phone (digital detox app):

for paid ads, worked:

Imagine that you are about to join a startup (before raising funds) as a part-time employee.
You are paid for work (compensation is like in any existing, well-established company in the industry, but you do not have regular employee benefits covering 401 plan, no equity, no health care plan, HO equipment fee, etc.)

You hope that after raising funds, you will become a full-time employee and receive benefits.